1. Field of the Invention
The present invention primarily to immobilizing devices for radiographic examination, and more particularly to immobilizing devices for infants and young children.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The state of the art is indicated by the following cited references: U.S. Pat. No. 749,457 -- Gaiter, U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,381 -- Powell, U.S. Pat. No. 2,751,268 -- Creelman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,502 -- Lund, U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,287 -- Arp, U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,141 -- Hoffman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,222 -- Dreibelbis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,885 -- Lund, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,523 -- Darby, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,752 -- Huggins, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,666 -- Nishiyama. Generally, immobilizing devices for use in radiographic examination have consisted of a wood or metal frame to which the patient was secured by means of restraining straps made of leather or the like. Not only have such devices been found to be clumsy in use, but also hae been found to shock and intimidate infants and young children, who usually begin to scream and cry when set on such a cold surface or secured in such a terrifying contraption. Some attempts have been made at designing immobilizing devices specifically for children, but these have not been accepted to any great extent by hospitals or X-ray laboratories. In fact, most such institutions use technicians with lead uniforms to manually hold the infant or young child during the examination. Not only must such technicians be paid at a competitive hourly rate, but also are present in the room while the X-rays are taken, and thus are susceptible to large quantities of harmful radiation.
In a addition to being clumsy, most prior art devices show up on radiographic film as shadows or foreign artifacts since they are not completely radiolucent. The presence of such shadows on X-rays may tend to distort or block out the desired images and thus impede effective diagnosis by a radiologist. As an alternative, many hospitals or X-ray laboratories currently use tape or the like to secure the patient, in place of using techincians to manually hold the patient. This alternative is very unsatisfactory.
It is a principal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved immobility device for use in radiographic examination.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an immobility device specifically for infants and young children.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an immobilizing device which is completely radiolucent.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.